Through the Looking Glass
by Ilovetoread09
Summary: Richard Castle is stuck inside his loft after hurting his leg and he can't seem to alleviate his boredom. That is, until he becomes intrigued with the woman across the way. AU


AN: So, yeah, this is called "I don't know what the hell my brain is thinking." If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen me grumble about the plot bunny that's been in my head. Anyway, here it is. Honestly, I really only have this chapter written and plan to write this at a snail's pace due to my other stories that I'm working on. So, anyway, thanks to Natalie Elizabeth for giving me hand with this and for helping me think of the title. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle

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Chapter 1

Richard Castle sighed as he tapped his fingers against the plastic arm underneath his hand. He was facing a dilemma, he was bored, extremely bored. The fact that he had limited mobility made him home bound for a few weeks, and he was not pleased at all. He was trying to occupy himself, but was running out of ideas

"I can feel your restlessness from here," his daughter said, sitting at the island in their kitchen.

"Sorry, Pumpkin," Rick said. "It's just hard being cooped up with nothing to do." He had tried numerous things to occupy himself, from writing to playing video games, only to quickly grow tired of them.

Alexis raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"What about writing? Don't you have chapters to start?"

Rick shrugged. "The pain killers make everything in my head fuzzy, I can't think clearly enough to write. That, and I'm feeling uninspired at the moment."

Alexis snickered. "Is that going to be your excuse when Gina calls? You know she's not going to accept it, especially since you didn't write anything during the ski trip."

Rick almost groaned at the thought of Gina calling him to nag him about wanting chapters to be written. He huffed. "Well, I'll try to think of something." He cocked his head, musing. "Oh, I know; how about wheelchair laser tag?"

His daughter shook her head.

"That won't work because one you can't go upstairs," Alexis said. "Two, you wouldn't be fast enough to catch me." She winked teasingly.

Rick pouted. ""Do you want to play chess?"

"Chess, Dad, really?" Rick frowned and Alexis sighed. "Look it's only for a few weeks, okay? You'll be good as new soon and then you can chase me around the apartment all you want with your healed leg."

"Okay," Rick muttered.

Alexis grinned for a moment before saying, "Oh, I know! I'll be right back." She then retreated upstairs. Rick raised an eyebrow in at her. What could she possibly be thinking of? He shrugged before wheeling himself to the window and looking out into the bustling city. He envied the people who could walk freely and go where they wanted to.

Alexis returned, interrupting his musings. He wheeled his chair around to see her walk toward him with an object in her hand. She smiled as she placed the object on the arm of his wheelchair. Rick looked at her confusion before examining the object he held in his hand.

"Binoculars?' he questioned. What would he do with binoculars?

"So, you can spy on the neighbors," she joked.

Rick glared playfully. "That's mean, making fun of your own father." He placed the binoculars on the nearby table.

Alexis gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I couldn't resist; just don't go all _Rear Window _on me if you do use them," she teased. "Anyway, I need to get to class. See you later." She kissed him on the forehead before going to the door, opening it, and exiting the loft.

Rick shook his head, chuckling. Alexis lived on campus at Columbia. However, since Rick had broken his leg the week before, she had volunteered to stay at the loft until his leg was fully healed, which would be in least six weeks. He had told her she didn't need to do that, but she insisted.

Now with Alexis gone for a few hours, Rick was definitely going to have trouble finding something to do. He briefly eyed the binoculars on the table, but shook his head.

_That would be creepy_, _even for me, _he thought.

Rick then wheeled himself to his office and booted up his laptop. Maybe he could get some writing done, hopefully

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He emerged from his office an hour later, with very little accomplished. Rick wrote the first paragraph of a chapter before reading it over with distaste and deleting the whole thing. He had decided to distract himself with silly videos. After a while, his stomach grumbled, signaling it was time for a snack.

Rick went to grab a bag of popcorn from the cabinet, but had trouble reaching due to his position. Carefully, he rose up out of the wheelchair and stood on one leg. He reached for the bag, just about snagging it before losing his balance and collapsing into his chair. He huffed in frustration as he rolled himself over to the microwave. Luckily, the microwave was level to him, so he didn't have a problem working it. As soon as the popcorn was ready, he removed the bag and wheeled himself toward the windows. As he did, he eyed the binoculars again, and finally gave into temptation.

Looking through the lenses, he began to examine the building across the way. Rick quickly skimmed each window before moving on to the next one. Frowning, Rick found that most of the apartments were empty, save the occasional pet running around. Probably because most of the occupants were either at work or just out roaming the city. He was about to give up on his spying, when his eyes landed on the window directly across from the loft and a floor below.

Through the glass, Rick could see a woman, who looked to be in her thirties, enter the apartment. She placed her keys on the island in her kitchen before taking off her black jacket. As she did this, Rick could see a police badge come into his view.

_So, she's a cop. Interesting, _Rick thought.

He watched as she carefully removed her badge and what appeared to be her gun from her belt, placing both items on the counter. Rick had to admit, she was beautiful. Her hair was a chocolate brown, which was tied up in a bun, and she had a healthy build. Unfortunately, he was too far away to determine her eye color.

The woman left the kitchen, taking her badge and gun with her. Rick's eyes followed her as she went to the next room where the blinds were closed. He assumed it was the bedroom. A moment later, she returned to the kitchen, this time without either object. She had also pulled her hair out of its bun, so that it fell freely to her shoulders. Rick noted that the ends of her hair had a slight curl to them.

The woman walked to one of cabinets in the kitchen, opened it, and began to pull out some pots and pans. However, she stopped for a moment, before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. Rick saw her grin at whoever was on the other end and laughed at something they said. As she was talking, she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with her left hand. That's Rick when noticed it, the ring.

_Ah, so she's married. It must be her husband she's talking to_, Rick mused.

Well, whoever it was, she certainly enjoyed talking to them. She laughed a few times and her face broke out into a full grin at one point. Rick smiled, finding her happiness contagious, despite the fact that she was so far away.

Rick was so engrossed in spying on the woman that he almost jumped when he heard the loft door open.

"I'm back," Alexis called, shutting the door behind her.

Rick quickly hung the binoculars off the chair's arm and wheeled himself toward his daughter.

"How did class go?" he asked.

"Good," Alexis answered, eyeing the binoculars. "So, see anything interesting?" she teased him, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Rick lied. "Everything is pretty quiet, and boring."

Alexis chuckled. "Well, we can watch a movie later." Rick nodded. "Is it okay if I start dinner?"

"Sure," Rick replied. "I'll help you."

He joined his daughter in the kitchen, trying to forget about the attractive woman across the way.

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AN: So, there's the first chapter. Don't worry; it's not going to be the exact same as "The Lives of Others." I'm definitely changing it up, besides the obvious element.

Twitter: Ilovetoread09


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